Nets Owner Says “Scarves Are For Making A Noose To Hang People”

I’m going to assume that Mikhail Prokhorov, owner of the New Jersey Nets was making a tasteless joke when he made that comment to celebrity stylist June Ambrose. I’m going to assume he somehow thought he was better acquainted with Ms. Ambrose that he could make a joke with her and she not get offended. I’ll assume he somehow was unaware of the history of lynchings that happened to African Americans here in the U.S.  We do live in a state of uber sensitivity when even the smallest of jokes are taken out of context and blown out of proportion.That has to be it right?

What other explanation could there possibly be for a Russian man to feel comfortable telling an African American woman that he believes scarves are for use as a noose to hang people with?